San Mateo Union High School District


The San Mateo Union High School District is a high school district headquartered in San Mateo, California. In addition to San Mateo, the district serves the cities of San Bruno, Millbrae, Burlingame, Hillsborough, and Foster City.

Schools

The district consists of seven public high schools, one alternative high school, one adult School, and one charter school in San Bruno, Millbrae, Burlingame, and San Mateo. The district serves a total population of 8,400 students with a staff of more than 900 employees; the District Adult School has an additional 10,000 part-time students. The seven public schools participate in the Peninsula Athletic League.
The oldest school in the district is San Mateo High School, which opened in 1902. The second oldest school is Burlingame High School, which opened in the early 1920s. This was followed by Capuchino High School in San Bruno in 1950. The district added more public high schools in the mid-50s and early 1960s as the population of the Peninsula grew: Hillsdale High School and Aragon High School in San Mateo, Mills High School in Millbrae, and Crestmoor High School in San Bruno. Due to declining enrollment, Crestmoor was closed in 1980; some of the buildings were later used for Peninsula High School, a continuation school.
The San Mateo Middle College High School is an alternative education program, begun in 1998, which is attended by 35 juniors and 35 seniors selected from high schools in the district. These students take both high school and college courses at College of San Mateo.
The San Mateo Adult School is an adult school with an annual enrollment of over 14,000 whose mission is to "develop skilled workers, strong families, and successful communities by offering opportunities to learn at every stage of adult life."
Design Tech High School is a charter school with open enrollment for all students in California which opened in 2014; the first class graduated in 2018. Enrollment is limited to 150 incoming freshmen ; transfers for sophomores are limited, and no transfers are available for juniors and seniors. If applicants exceed capacity, a lottery is held to determine enrollment. Oracle Corporation announced in 2015 that it would build a public high school building for d.tech on its campus in Redwood Shores; the new $43 million building was completed in late 2017, replacing the schools initial space and interim campus. Students moved into the new building in January 2018.
NameYearAddressCityTelephoneNotesImage
Aragon1961900 Alameda de las PulgasSan Mateo2999
2952
Burlingamec.19201 Mangini WayBurlingame2899
2852
Capuchino19501501 Magnolia AveSan Bruno2799
2752
Hillsdale19553115 Del Monte StSan Mateo2699
574-4173
Mills1958400 Murchison DrMillbrae2599
2552
Peninsula300 Piedmont AveSan Bruno2499Built on the former campus of Crestmoor High School
San Mateo1902506 N. Delaware StSan Mateo2399
2352
Adult School1917789 E. Poplar AveSan Mateo2100
762-0232 		Provides education for traditionally underserved communities.
Middle College19981700 W. Hillsdale BlvdSan Mateo574-6161Concurrent enrollment for up to 35 juniors and 35 seniors earning college credits at College of San Mateo while attending high school courses.
Design Tech2014275 Oracle PkwyRedwood City231-2701'd.tech' is a charter school that relocated to a new building in Redwood City in January 2018

Statistics

Demographics

Standardized testing

Board of Trustees

The San Mateo Union High School District is governed by a five-member board of trustees, whose members are elected by voters residing in the district to serve up to two four-year terms. The Board is responsible for establishing educational goals and standards, approving curriculum and the school district budget, and appoints a superintendent to manage day-to-day administration.
The current trustees are Peter Hanley, Linda Lees Dwyer, Greg Land, Marc Friedman, and Robert Griffin. Former Board President Dave Pine was elected to the District 1 seat on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, replacing Mark Church in an all-mail special election which ended on May 3, 2011.

Controversy

The district instituted a "Late start policy starting in the 2017-2018 academic year. While Thursdays ended earlier in previous years, the late start made it so that Thursdays would start at 9:30, as opposed to the usual 8:00 am and would then end at 3:15 pm. This was controversial, as not all students could take advantage of the late start, as it would interfere with their driving schedule. Additionally, the late start, or more specifically the later end, interfered with many after-school programs.